(COMPLETE NCAA SOUTH CENTRAL/WEST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT RESULTS - PDF)

Dixie State made history on Saturday afternoon as the Trailblazers won their first-ever NCAA Division II Men's Golf South Central/West Regional tournament championship at The Ledges Golf Club in St. George. DSU will advance on to play at the 2019 NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championships, which will be held on May 20-24, at The Resort at Glade Springs Golf Club in Daniels, W. Va.

The host Trailblazers led wire-to-wire and entered Saturday's final round with a commanding nine-shot lead on the field. Dixie State looked to have the tournament well in hand at the turn as the Blazers combined to go out in 8-under 136 to extend their lead to 12 strokes over second place UC San Diego at the turn.

However UCSD, which was paired with DSU in the final round, made a major charge on the back nine as the Tritons cut the Dixie State lead down to just two shots as the final pairings finished the 15^th hole. UCSD would eventually pull to within one shot of the lead, but the Trailblazers managed to push their lead back to four strokes late in the round to clinch the tourney title.

"I am so proud of the guys for all the hard work they put in and for gutting it out today," said DSU Head Coach Brad Sutterfield. "I couldn't be more excited for them, for Dixie State and for the program. There was a lot of hard work and effort from everybody to get us to this point."

Dixie State (283-282-282) posted its second-straight 6-under 282 on its final loop to finish with a 54-hole total of minus-17 847. DSU's 847 team score is the lowest score in the program's history at an NCAA regional championship event and is the third-lowest 54-hole score in the program's four-year era. In addition, Saturday's win was the Trailblazers' fourth top-10 showing at an NCAA regional and beat the previous program-best finish set in 2012 when DSU tied for sixth overall.

UCSD (287-289-275) fired a tournament-low 13-under 275 in its final round Saturday to claim runner-up honors at minus-13 851 and earned a berth into the NCAA Championship tournament, as did Cal State Monterey Bay (300-279-282-861, -3) and Sonoma State (287-290-285-862, -2), who placed third and fourth overall, respectively.

Three Trailblazers finished in the top-10 on the leaderboard, led by sophomore Spencer Wallace (70-68-72) and freshman Triston Gardner (70-69-71), who both tied for fourth-overall at minus-6 210. Wallace rolled in three birdies in the final round, including a clutch birdie on 15, to finish the day at even par 72. Meanwhile Gardner, who led the 108-player field in total birdies (18), penciled in four birdies on his opening nine holes and after falling back to even par through his first four holes on the back nine, he birdied the par-5 16^th to finish the day at 1-under 71.

Senior Nicklaus Britt (69-75-67) enjoyed his best overall loop of the event as he fired DSU's low-round of the day with a bogey-free 5-under 67 to tie for eighth place at minus-5 211. Britt birdied holes six-through-eight on the front side, then tallied two more birdies on the back, which included a birdie on par-5 16^th.

Sophomore Brock Nielson (75-70-72) finished in a pack of eight players tied for 30^th at plus-1 217 after he carded an even par 72 Saturday in a round that featured four birdies and DSU's lone eagle of the day, and freshman Noah Schone (74-76-73) tied eight others for 66^th-overall at plus-7 223 after he posted a 1-over 73 with three total birdies.

"I was so impressed with how our players handled themselves, they were just calm all week," Sutterfield noted. "They went about their business all week long and I think they knew they were going to get it done. I'm super proud of them."

Colorado Christian junior Chase Carlson (67-68-69-204, -12) claimed regional medalist honors by one shot over UCSD's Hayden Hui (69-69-67-205, -11). Carlson, along with Chico State's Josh McCollum (71-72-66-209, -7), also advanced to the NCAA national tournament as individuals.